May 15, 2024
The next generation Peugeot e-3008 SUV has a daring new look, but we’ll have to wait a few more days to learn the specifics of what’s under its skin

This is the all-new Peugeot e-3008, replacement for the popular and stylish 3008 SUV that looks to take an even more wild approach to design through a striking new look. This all-electric e-3008 variant will rival cars like the Volkswagen ID.4, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6, with Peugeot promising some big advancements in both its tech and electric powertrain. 

While not straying too far from the design language that’s been introduced on other new Peugeot models like the 408 and facelifted 508, the new e-3008 has the most innovative take on this new aesthetic. The standout feature is perhaps the extremely compact LED headlights with the now-signature triple-claw lighting effect that sit below the main clusters.  

The rear also has a similar feel to the 408, but everything sits a little higher, with chunkier bumpers and larger rear lights. What has been confirmed thanks to this set of images is the Peugeot’s much sleeker roofline, which should help to reduce the car’s drag coefficient, a critical factor with high-riding EVs such as this.

The model will replace the current petrol-powered Peugeot 3008, with the French marque focusing on this electric replacement that will run on a brand new EV-focused platform. Brand boss Linda Jackson confirmed recently that the e-3008 will be the first Peugeot to sit on parent firm Stellantis’s new STLA Medium platform designed largely for pure-electric vehicles.

Peugeot has also previously revealed the new model’s next-gen i-Cockpit interior design. The new interior architecture has a similar concept to the look Peugeot pioneered over a decade ago, but comes with a new design for the low-set steering wheel and screen positioned above it. The new panoramic layout combines the two screens, with a digital dash and the main touchscreen, linked into one housing.

Peugeot says this configuration is a 21-inch high-definition panel that combines the instrument cluster and secondary functions.Then there’s a touch-sensitive panel below this, which replaces the piano key-style shortcut buttons on current Peugeot models; this will allow users to jump between the most frequently used areas of the system as well as being customisable to the driver’s preferences. It does, however, look like the car’s climate controls will be incorporated into the touchscreen set-up, because no physical controls are visible. Expect a good degree of customisation on offer when it comes to the look and layout of the widescreen display, too.

The teaser also reveals the e-3008’s new generation interior design, which is clearly an evolution of the current 3008’s interior when it comes to the layout and materials. Peugeot will once again make extensive use of fabrics and textured metallic materials, while a large centre console featuring cup-holders and storage cubbies is also present. This is possible thanks to a minimised gear selector that now sits on the dash. 

Speaking to Auto Express (and combined with early shots taken by our spy photographers), Peugeot CEO Linda Jackson has also given us an indication as to how the e-3008 could look, as previewed by our exclusive images.

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“I would express it in a different way”, she told us. “Why do customers buy SUVs today? Because they like a slightly higher driving position. Because they like the security. Because they like the modularity. There’s no visibility that customers will change from that, so the challenge is how do we create that in a more aerodynamic way? It’s going to change the shape.”

Jackson’s Stellantis colleague, Citroen CEO Vincent Cobée, told us previously that EVs will kill off the SUV as we know it, due to a greater emphasis on aerodynamics. So we put that question to Jackson to get an idea of future designs and bodystyles.

Expect the new e-3008 to still offer a raised driving position and ride height when it breaks cover later this year, but we also anticipate a sleeker roofline towards the rear end, reducing the car’s drag to improve the all-electric machine’s range. A new grille treatment inspired by Peugeot’s Inception concept revealed earlier this year at CES will likely feature, given that the brand previously outlined that Inception “will inspire Peugeot’s future products from 2025”, when deliveries of the new e-3008 are likely to start. This new, faired-in face will boost efficiency.

“Even if you take a 408, which is neither an SUV nor a sedan [saloon], it’s a crossover”, added Jackson. “It’s a cross between the two, a dynamic fastback, whatever you want to call it. For me, that’s where it will change. There’s no doubt, when we used to have these very high SUVs, they’re not aerodynamically suited to efficiency, so inevitably they will change.

“You’re seeing sleeker, different concepts, so I would take it from that way. I think customers like that higher driving position, so won’t change. But they want to have something that will be efficient. That’s the challenge.”

When it comes to range, Peugeot has outlined that the e-3008 will offer up to 435 miles on a charge, while it’s known that the STLA Medium platform can accommodate batteries between 87 and 104kWh. A charge rate of 20 miles per minute has also been a target for the STLA project.

Peugeot has confirmed that the new e-3008 will be available with three electric powertrains and dual-motor all-wheel drive. A single-motor, two-wheel-drive set-up is expected to make up the majority of sales.

Jackson believes that sectors of the market will be less rigidly defined than they are today, and that new Peugeots will be characterised by more daring design.

“The next models you’ll see coming from Peugeot won’t be bland, uniform and boring. We will be challenging,” she said. “We want to have a general coherence, but I think it’s important that you can tell the products apart, which is why it’s very important to have these product markers – which we have – which are about the lighting signature, about the three claws, and we want to make sure that is clear throughout the whole range.

“You’ve got to try and balance it. The way we treat the lighting signature – we always want the three claws, but it may be a different way you treat it on a large car than you would on a smaller one. It’s hard to get coherence, plus a level of individuality.”

Peugeot has said future model design will be based around four principles: new proportions for more flexibility and freedom of bodystyle, new perspectives for a totally new design language, new space to rethink the interior and, linked to this, new gestures when it comes to the brand’s i-Cockpit layout and infotainment.

Click here for our list of the best electric SUVs on sale

Senior staff writer

Senior staff writer at Auto Express, Jordan joined the team after six years at evo magazine where he specialised in news and reviews of cars at the high performance end of the car market.